Pitcher only

What is his future? There are very, very few guys that are two-way players at the highest levels of college baseball. I realize your son is in h.s. but at 16 is an important year for getting on the radar screens. Is your son's strength hitting (and hitting for power) or pitching? I'll go out on a limb and guess pitching if he is being invited to a top-level team. If his first love (or most realistic capability) is pitching I say jump on board with the pitcher-only opportunity. Your kid needs the exposure it may offer.

Is he a 2014? What travel team?

If your pitcher son IS a good hitter (lead off very high average and OBP or a 3/4/5 hole hitter with a low K rate) do not give up on this too easily. It is correct that very few play both ways at a higher level but at his age you need to ask your son how he will feel sitting out most games. I know very few kids who are really okay with that at such a young age. Baseball still needs to be fun and if giving up 2-way play diminishes the passion and the fun - be wary. Also - pitching can always come to an abrupt end. It is early to bank on one thing. With that said - there is nothing wrong with a pitcher only spot if your son is ready for that - and be thankful that the team was honest about the offer as not all teams are so honest.

For our part - we stayed away from the pitcher only offers. My son is obviously more marketable as a pitcher - but LOVES to hit and run the bases - so we stayed with it. It did not hurt him when being recruited and I believe not hitting would have had an impact on his passion for the game.

I feel differently, pitchihg opens more doors for opportunities unless your son is a hitting stud.

If pitching gets him on a highly competitive team with good instruction, why not?

If your son can hit well he will always be able to hit, he can go back to being a 2 way guy in HS.

I say let him play the WHOLE game as long as he can, because for sure at some point in the future he’s going to have to choose, and when he does, the game will become more of JOB, no matter what he or anyone else tells you.

The trouble with pitching and hitting/position playing at the same time, is that its impossible to maximize the potential of either. It’s a little like switch hitting. There’s just no way to get the same number of reps from both sides of the plate, unless of course the player isn’t a very hard worker to begin with.

One other perspective:

Has the coach of the highly competitive summer team given your son any indication of his role on the pitching staff?

The competitive summer teams will play in tourneys where they need more pitchers than a high school team typically needs, and might pick up "extra" pitchers who are not expected to throw a lot of innings. If your son is pretty far down the list of relief pitchers, he could sit the bench for quite a few games without knowing when he will get a chance. That is totally normal as he moves up thru HS and college level, but might be a surprising introduction for your son to "pitcher only" if he doesn't know his role going in.

Of course, each pitcher's role will be further determined thru the season based on how they perform in their windows of opportunity.

Julie

For some perspective on how things can work out for pitcher only guys. Two trips this year both out of state;

1. Last game rained out and the scheduled pitcher had not pitched the entire trip. 4 days out of state and zero innings pitched.

2. 8 day trip, pitcher threw four innings in game one (no runs) and never pitched again.

These are extreme cases but for player/parents who are not used to being a PO these things can happen.

If he's not throwing hi 80s, then keep working on both.

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE FATHER OF A PITCHER ONLY

Growing up, my son was always an above average player, both pitching(lhp) and as a position player. Never the power hitter, or the fastest guy, but an above average outfielder. I always knew that if he would have a shot at playing college ball, it would be at pitching. Right before he hit high school, he tried out for one of the better travel teams here in St Louis. He made the team as an outfielder/pitcher. But the coach said that when he hits 16U, he might be done as an outfielder, so he has to work harder at that if he wants to continue. Played JV as a freshman, batting 3rd or 5th, number 2 pitcher. Did well his summer ball at both, but better as a pitcher. Then as a sophomore made varsity as a pitcher only,but coach told him he would only pitch so there were never any dillusions of playing the field. Then this summer, he got moved to a team of 16 year olds that were going to play 18U. Coach said he would only pitch.

MY OPINION--this move is always harder on the parents then it is the player. We got used to him being one of the best hitters on the team, so it would be rough to watch him sit the bench while we supported the team, especially when the guy at his job would fail. But he always said he was fine with it. In practice, he got to work on towell drills, pfd's, etc while guys were in the cage, so he felt he was a better pitcher since he doesnt have to do outfield drills or cage work. He had a choice this summer, be a pitcher only for maybe the best 16U team around, or he could go play for a lower level team that he could play outfield for, but knowing that when he pitches, his defense would be a lot worse. So he took the pitcher only gig. If he has dreams of being a college pitcher, this may be the route to take. I just think you better be "the man" if you can do both at a high level when you cant devote enough practicing time to each.

And during the summer he plays in a rec league during the week that he gets to hit and play outfield so he is happy with that.

If a reputable and successful travel coach offers a pitcher-only opportunity, that might be the voice of reality speaking. Listen to it. True two-way prospects are exceedlingly rare.

A travel team's credibility depends on having legitimate college prospects in every position and in every spot in the line up. Otherwise the reputation of the team suffers, and the chances everyone has of getting recruited go down.

Even if a pitching prospect is a pretty good middle-of-the-order high school hitter, a travel team simply cannot afford to let him bat if he's not a legitimate college hitting prospect. If he's not a better hitter than the position players, he shouldn't be taking up at bats just to keep his fun meter off zero.

Although it is frustrating to have the kind of weekend trip that warningtrack describes, pitchers still have a much easier time of it in the recruiting process. Position players need a whole lot more looks than pitchers do. It is not uncommon for a pitcher to get an offer or multiple offers on the strength of a single outing at a well scouted event, whereas position players often have to perform the full range of offensive and defensive skills over several games even to get serious consideration.

The cost per inning played can be much higher for pitchers, but the potential return on each inning is also higher. Also, it's good practice to learn how to maintain yourself in an alert state of readiness so you're ready to perform when you finally do get called on. There could be a lot of waiting around at college.

Hang in there.

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
Although it is frustrating to have the kind of weekend trip that warningtrack describes, pitchers still have a much easier time of it in the recruiting process. Position players need a whole lot more looks than pitchers do. It is not uncommon for a pitcher to get an offer or multiple offers on the strength of a single outing at a well scouted event, whereas position players often have to perform the full range of offensive and defensive skills over several games even to get serious consideration.

The cost per inning played can be much higher for pitchers, but the potential return on each inning is also higher. Also, it's good practice to learn how to maintain yourself in an alert state of readiness so you're ready to perform when you finally do get called on. There could be a lot of waiting around at college.

Hang in there.

Everything you say is the truth.

If you have to worry about costs than you are in the wrong game. We paid a lot for tournaments to see son pitch 3 innings for one weekend. This happens. I think he pitched 3 at Jupiter with a huge crowd watching, when he was done so were they and we had some really good kids on our team some now playing at the highest level in baseball.

DK was a great fielder and hitter but he was put into the pitcher only position after 9th grade for travel, tournament ball, as well as highschool. Most really good and successful travel teams seperate the two. I do beleive that if he had remained doing both it would have hurt him in the long run.

This makes lot of sense, in reality the object is to get where you want to go, if pitching helps facilitate that, go for it, if it doesn't work he has a few years to go in another direction.

I noted in my earlier post that if pitcher is a good hitter you should consider staying in the game as a two way player. If there are not any high level travel coaches that want him to play both ways that limits your options. I would only suggest that if hitting is a realistic and important part of his baseball experience - keep looking for a high level travel team that will allow him to hit. Even if it is as a DH.

quote:

Originally posted by YesReally:
I noted in my earlier post that if pitcher is a good hitter you should consider staying in the game as a two way player. If there are not any high level travel coaches that want him to play both ways that limits your options. I would only suggest that if hitting is a realistic and important part of his baseball experience - keep looking for a high level travel team that will allow him to hit. Even if it is as a DH.

Not necessarily, it all depends on the player. IMO if the player is a meh pitcher and a meh hitter, he is never going to get better doing both. There are a few exceptions, but from what I have seen hitting isn't always in a true pitchers best interest.

It very much depends on the evaluation of the players ability. And it has to do with what the player wants to do later on as well.

I strongly beleive that for a player that shows signs of becoming a top pitcher, hitting is not in his best interests, healthwise.

HSBBW - I do not disagree with anything you said. I just think that 15 years old may be too soon for specialization for many players. I was also not addressing players who are average pitchers or average hitters.

Go Blue,

We are going through that very same issue right now. Very similiar situation as MizzouBaseball of watching kids struggle filling his defensive position and saying why is my kid limited - in many cases not even given the chance to compete at for position spot.

So I did what you did and reched out to others...

Here is what I was told (by many of these same people):

1 - Being a LHP his position spots are very limited (1B, OF).

2 - Hitting for average does not cut it for a 1B, LF or CF. These are the pure power hitters.

3 - Think about running him out there for 2-3 games in 95+ degree heat and now game 4 is his chance to shine and pitch. How much would he have left after exerting all that effort? Would he have enough - Maybe.... Would he have 100 to 110% he needs to TRUELY IMPRESS and show everything...no

4 - is this an easy or fun descision...Hell no. (I'll apologize for language), especially for a 15 or 16 yr old.

Lefty came to the decision of 2 teams (Starting CF and Pitcher or Pitcher Only). Both teams would be great fits. I laid out everything THIS FORUM offerred up. He could play at some level at college, but he would need to concentrate to play at his goal (CF or Pitch). The real kicker was I could not advise him since I didn't have the answer. Its his dream, his life, his decision...Its whats he wants to do.

HE (not us) made the decision knowing that the better colleges would want him for his arm vs his bat and glove. I could see it in his eyes that part of his dream was gone. We(parents) are also finding it hard to accept, however in the last few weeks in between summer and fall, let me tell you what has happened...

He didn't swing the bat 200 times every other day and instead did runs. He didn't take grounders and instead took a lesson to fix any rough edges. He didn't do 100% of the practice drills and instead did more long toss and BP.

In the last 2-3 weeks he has worked and succeded in gaining much more movement of the ball (2 seam), brought back his CU (was struggling) and now has a late breaking hard curve along with his normal curve.

He has gotten stronger and his velocity has picked up just in the past several weeks. He has started to accept the decision and moved on (much easier than us parents). We can't wait to see him this Saturday when Fall Ball starts.

So with that my advice...

In order to get noticed you need a resume. Doing a great job in your last two positions put you in a small pool of talented individuals. Doing an outstanding job on your last position makes your name stand out.


Good luck and keep us informed... I can't say we made the right decision cause he is only a junior and we are still goign through the motions. I will say I've seen more focus, tremendous improvement and most of all acceptance to the decision 'he' made....

2013leftydad,

I can relate to your post (which was very good).
It was a big blow taking the bat out of son's hands, he really had a tough time with it. It wasn't a decision he made, it was made for him.

I do beleive that what they did, made son focus more on what he needed to in order to move forward. He had a great sophmore and junior season, as a senior they allowed him to o back to hitting and I do beleive the pitching wasn't as good as it had been. In fact I know because he dropped in the rankings that senior year.

Recently my son went to the bullpen. In conversation he has told me that he feels that not hitting (national league) has helped his game. Believe it or not, he still has to take pitchers batting practice, but he doesn't miss his at bats.

Is 15 too young to make a desicion? Could be, it all depends on the situation, however, when someone asks a question I will try to give my best reply, but still becomes a personal decision regardless of what others have experienced.

As someone fairly new to this site, I appreciate the perspectives that you all have provided. My son is a 6'2" lefty and has some more room to grow. He is excited about the opportunity and reminds me that he will play OF/1B during the HS season and during HS summer ball. The PO team will give him excellent work on mechanics and a nice throwing program to increase strength and conditioning. As a PO he has been told he will be given priority with innings, etc.over the position players who also pitch.

Great responses from all of you!

quote:

Originally posted by GoBlue55:
He is excited about the opportunity and reminds me that he will play OF/1B during the HS season and during HS summer ball.

Seems like parents always have a worse time over these things than the player.

Parents, set your players free to be able to explore all opportunities presented to them, things always have a way of working out, try to enjoy it all.

As usual, the sincere, valuable and well-considered posts on this forum come shining through!

My 2012 son has played for the same elite travel team for the past 5 years and has been a p.o. for the past 3 years. Up until his junior year he still hit and played the field for his school team(s) and for Babe Ruth--and excelled. But as time wore on it became more and more apparent that pitching was where his true talent was.

Two caveats:

At least in my son's experience, it's not so easy keeping your bat and glove sharp if you spend the summer as a p.o. It probably will take extra work on your son's part to ensure that his hitting and fielding skills don't atrophy and instead continue to progress as he develops physcially. If, after deciding to be pitcher-only, he still wants to retain the possibility of being a two-way player in the future, he's going to have to put in a lot of extra work: batting cages and taking grounders/fly balls. If he's a p.o. for the travel team, he's not going to be able to get that work in with that team during their season.

My second caveat has already been well-stated, but it's worth reiterating: Pitchers-only and their parents must be able to take it on the chin when the schedule, weather, match-ups, coach's strategy, etc. do not align and your son does not get on the mound during a tournament. It's incredibly frustrating but it happens all the time. You'll become an expert in arguing all sides of whether a coach should use his pitching to get into the playoffs or hold back his best pitchers so the team can win and advance--if and when the team makes the playoffs.

Lastly, if your son does not love the bull-pens, running, long-toss, stretching, and sitting on the pine cheering on his teammates as much as (or more than) he loves hitting and playing the field, then he should consider being a two-way player for as long as his talent allows.